YA Book Review: Wild Cards – 4 out of 5

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Ashley Lauren

Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles

WildCards

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m just not going to argue with a book I read so fast. Whenever a book makes me flip page after page after page, it has something going for it. That’s how I have been with everything Elkeles has written. When I go back through and analyze afterwards I can usually identify things that bother me, that I wish were different. But I’m not going to ignore the fact that in the moment I was there and loving it. That’s what I really want in a book in the long run.

So, we have Derek and Ashtyn. Don’t be fooled – this isn’t a book about plot. Yes, there is one, since you need one in a book but that’s not what this is about. It’s about these two characters and how they fall in love. There’s no suspense or question that this will be how them book ends. Derek and Ashtyn are going to be together and we’re just reading a book on how that happens. If you want some kind of suspense about that when you read a book then this is not for you.

Elkeles does a really good job of making these two characters exist in real life. They have plenty of their own baggage and they are definitely teenagers. This is one of those books where the characters act their age. They are young, hormonal teenagers and because of this they sometimes do stupid things. You can see them learning and faltering along the way and as a reader you can’t help rooting for them. You want them to figure out their life because you hope if they can, then maybe you can, too.

Okay, that might have just been me. What I’m saying is that it’s easy to connect.

There were two things that bothered me about the story.

1) Ashtyn’s main character flaw. She projects herself as such a strong, independent young woman, a football player who, despite living with her father seems to have raised herself. For all of that, though, she can’t seems to handle herself and it’s bothersome. I wanted her to figure out about Landon on her own. For all the time she spent around guys I just don’t see how she or even her guy friends would have let her be with someone so negative to her life. I don’t see why Derek had to point out as many of these things to her as he did. I wanted her to do more on her own – but it wasn’t a deal-breaker on how I liked then.

2) Derek’s grandmother lives in Texas and the football clinic is in Texas and miraculously they are located withing CABBING distance? Texas is huge – what were the chances of them being in the same exact place?!

I’m kidding about that last point – kind of.

If you love cute, fun, YA RomCom, you’ll love this. That’s all you need to know.

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YA Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth – 4 out of 5

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Ashley Lauren

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yeah, okay, it’s good.

Let’s be honest. I picked up this book for two distinct reasons:

1) It’s super hyped and it will soon be a movie
2) It’s set in Chicago, where I now live.

That’s it, the only reasons. I had no idea going into it what it would be. I fully expected it to be far over-hyped, for it to be silly YA, for it to feel like a copy of other books, etc.

But you know what? I liked it. I found myself eating it up. When I had to put it down because life intervened I found myself sucked back in. I found myself thinking about the characters when I wasn’t reading.

To me, this book is a hybrid of The Giver and Ender’s Game. Surprised I didn’t say The Hunger Games? Really, it’s nothing of the sort. It just came out around the same time, is a trilogy, and unfortunately has a similar cover. I totally judged this book by the cover for a long time and had I continued to do so I would have missed out on a really enjoyable read.

Is Roth the best writer in the world? No. But I loved the character she made from Tris. Tris is effin’ scary, guys. I’ve heard some people complain about this book because they couldn’t connect with Tris as a character. Well, I certainly hope not. Tris is a straight-up B*A* with some serious anger issues. She’s still a person and can love and all that crap but when it comes down to it, she’ll do what she needs to do and won’t even care. It was downright ballsy for that to be the character Roth created and I like it. I guess in that respect it is a little like Katniss. I just hope when I get to read the rest of this series Tris stays true to herself.

Anyway, I love the kind of book that gets me absorbed and keeps the pages turning. This book will do that to you. Just let yourself get soaked up in it and you’ll find yourself loving it.

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Book Review: Tell the Wolves I’m Home – 4 out of 5

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Ashley Lauren

Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

wolves

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My writing doesn’t tend to have a lot of “plot.” I always find my stories to be much more character driven, with dialogue and thoughts progressing everything much more than outside occurrences.

This is how I feel this book is driven. It’s from the perspective of a young girl named June. The premise is simple: June’s beloved uncle, Finn, has died and we watch as June copes with this tragedy.

It sounds like it’s going to be simple but it’s not. Not even close. June has a lot going on in her life – dealing with Finn’s death just being one of them. Her relationship with her sister, her parents, her uncle’s boyfriend, and most, importantly, herself make this story a whirlwind. Just when you think she’s coming to grip with one area some other character will knock it all to pieces.

Perhaps the part that I found the most fascinating was the way the characters understood and reacted to AIDS. I’m from a generation where I grew up without a lot of those initial misconceptions of the disease. I’ve never thought I could get AIDS from someone just by touching them or kissing them. I’ve never thought of it as only a “gay” disease. This book takes place in a time when AIDS was just beginning to be known. I think it does such an incredible job of understanding the hurt and devastation that misunderstanding AIDS and homosexuality caused on so many lives.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. At times it was hard to read and I also felt it to be a bit long for the events. Still, it’s a book that will stay with me in a very good way.

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A Life of Novels – NaNoWriMo and Me

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Ashley Lauren

Oh, hi, friends.

I don’t do the “typical” blog entry here much anymore – and for good reason.  I don’t think you visit my website to know more about me, I think you want to get a good idea of what to, and not to, read.  I hope I’ve been able to provide that so far.

Still, I think this month deserves a bit of a step away from that set-up.  If you know anything about the reading and writing community, you’ve probably heard about NaNoWriMo.  If you know anything about me at all, you probably know that I love NaNoWriMo.

Love is an understatement, actually.  NaNoWriMo has defined me, created me, caused me to grow.  The month of November, for me, is one of challenge and immense satisfaction.  I own my entire self and one of my best friends to NaNoWriMo.  I know it sounds dramatic, but I am who I am because of Chris Baty and his challenge to himself that he decided to share with his friends.

This is my 13th year of NaNoWriMo.  I wrote my first 50,000 word novel in a green three-subject spiral notebook when I was in 8th grade.  I went through two pens. This was before I understood the importance of paragraph breaks.  It was a fantasy novel that quite blatantly stole plot line details from LOTR.  I still love that story. Now I am querying for traditional publication of my 12th novel, the chick lit story called Viva Las Vegas.  In between I have written sci fi, literary, mystery, and plenty of romance.  I’ve loved and hated my novels. I’ve stayed up late, flown to San Francisco, yelled at my husband, lost my work, found my muse, written on pen and paper, written on many computers. I’ve grown each and every time.

There are a lot of haters about NaNoWriMo out there.  I think they hate the hype (I do, too, in a way).  They argue against why someone should purposely write poorly, why they should rush a process, why they should ever encourage “everyone” to write a novel.  Haters gonna hate.  Which is worse – the person who spends 10 years hemming and hawing over a novel that turns out to still be crap, or the person who spurts it out in 30 days, out of breath, cheeks flushed, hands in the air and cheering?  Do we frown and tsk at the person who comes in last during a marathon?  What’s the point of running if you’re not going to be first?  It’s the action of it, the emotion of it, it’s about YOU not the consumer.  This is what NaNoWriMo is.

If Chris Baty had never challenged me to write a novel, would I ever had done it?  Maybe.

Would I have written 13 novels before the age of 25? No.

Would I have 12 instances of pure elation, that feeling of accomplishment, realization of my own power and ability and dedication when I crossed that finish line?  Absolutely not.

Would I ever have had the confidence to work and on a novel for a year and be prepared to publish it?  Maybe someday.

NaNoWriMo provides an escape.  It releases us from a life of confinement.  It tells us that for a while, just for 30 days, we can change our priorities.  Kids, work, partners, grocery shopping ,whatever – it can take a back seat.  For 30 days, if only for 30 days, we can say, “I want to do this for me.”  And it’s a goal that hard, really hard for some (it gets easier, by the way).  It’s a goal that’s achievable.  It’s a goal that is so much better because there is no prize.  There’s no competition against others, only yourself.  It’s beautiful and wonderful and sometimes we even get a beautiful story out of it – which is just icing on the cake.

This month, I’ve been ramping up my duties at work and I’ve been in the height of the process of buying a house. I’m querying a novel, writing in this blog, and spending two hours a day commuting by train (where I don’t write due to usually having to stand).  It’s been hard for me to write, and it has been such a wonderful challenge.  It never once crossed my mind not to participate in NaNoWriMo.  I will do it each and every year.  It’s a part of who I am.  Some years I may not make it – I didn’t in 2004, after all – but I will do it for the rest of my life because without it I wouldn’t be who I am. And you don’t just throw that kind of commitment away.

Now, that being said, I have protagonist who needs to join a reggae band.

11,334/50,000

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YA Book Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman – 4/5 stars

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Ashley Lauren

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

ifistay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Let’s keep this short and sweet.

There are times when I read a YA book and I am overly aware of my own age. (For the record, I am 25 years old and married. I’m old). If I Stay made me feel that way. As I’m thumbing the pages, turning quite quickly, I might add, I felt hyper aware of how perfect her family was, how I knew what he ending was going to be, how it all just felt so obvious.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t cry. I was totes tearing up on the Metra (ahh, the life of a commuter – crying on the train).

What I mean is that this really is a great book, it’s a fantastic book if you’re 16. It feels a little funny when you’re older because you start identifying with the mother more than the child (whoops).

I don’t think her life had to be perfect for this accident to be so traumatic. I don’t think each part, in that respect, had to be so obvious. This is why I rated it as I did – but really, it’s a fast read that, depending on the person could really move you. Me? I might forget it. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like it, it just means it wasn’t for me.

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YA Book Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door – 5/5

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Ashley Lauren

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

lola

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don’t know why, but for some reason people on Good Reads aren’t a fan of this novel.  Boggles my mind – I loved this book. It’s exactly what I wanted it to be when I opened the cover. Eccentric protagonist who has an adorable next door neighbor. Cheeeeck!  I am a firm believer that the faster you read a book the more you will like it, especially when it comes to YA.  You need to get absorbed.  I ate this book up in about a day and read until the wee hours of the morning to finish it.  That may be why I enjoyed it as much as I did.

But wait – there’s more! There’s actually depth to the novel, which shouldn’t be miraculous, but when it comes to YA I sometimes get skeptical. I love books where the protagonist is, by far, the most flawed of everyone. Lola is clueless. She’s totally selfish at times, but somehow still endearing. Because it’s written in first person we can forgive her fault since, let’s face it, we forgive our own all the time. Despite what the rest of the world seems to think, I enjoyed Lola so much more than Anna. I guess it’s just a matter of perspective.

Sure, there are some scenes that are silly (the glasses breaking?) and the entire reason why she and Cricket had a falling out was just unreasonable (obviously she would have assumed Calliope was lying. I mean come on.) and the fact that Max turned out to be a prick wasn’t needed (sometimes people have to break up with good people to be where they want. It happens. Don’t cop out and take the easy way out and make him a jerk at the last minute.)

But there are some wonderful parts. I love, love, LOVE that her parents are gay. Gay and adorable and freaking strict as all hell. Perfect. I love how, despite his last three paragraphs of jerkiness, the other boyfriend was actually a good person (despite the band ad craaazy tattoos), etc. And I just like Lola. She’s such a real young adult protagonist. She’s naïve in all the right ways, selfish and ornery and yet still a good person. It’s really an excellent balance between being young and not irritating the crap out of the reader – not an easy feat.

Oh, but one more thing, why in the hell is that boy named CRICKET? (And how was there never, not once, a “Jiminy!”?)

Sorry, this is all over the place. All you need to know is that this is adorable and you should read Stephanie Perkins.

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Book Review: Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal – 3/5

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Ashley Lauren

Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal

MilkandHoney

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This novel just wasn’t my bag. I’ve actually had the pleasure of seeing Mary Robinette Kowal speak in Chicago and enjoyed hearing her ideas, so I was excited to pick up this novel. She says it herself – when you hear “Jane Austen with magic” you get pretty interested. Super props to another NaNoWriMo novel. Despite what I think, this book is obviously a success and I love that.

Still, for me this just fell flat. I think the danger in saying it’s like Jane Austen is that then the writing gets compared to one of the greatest writers of all time (in my opinion). That’s a pretty high bar. I felt Kowal can definitely hold her own with style and form but pieces of this novel just didn’t work for me. Some of the scenes felt forced or unimportant and, try as I might, I had such a hard time seeing the magic and the ether and really understanding what the magic was.

Probably, for me, the most frustrating part of this novel was the use of the magic. Everything in this world was 100% normal except for the magic. And what was it used for? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was just a way to make things prettier. Whhaaaa – how disappointing. What’s the point of having magic if it doesn’t otherwise change their lives? Sure it enhances and obscures items but it didn’t mean anything. It could make items prettier and more lifelike. Man, I wanted so much more than that. I wanted this ether to matter somehow – I wanted the positives of the beautiful created to have some kind of negative (aside from exhaustion). I liked the idea but I feel like there could be so much more here.

The other piece I found challenging was how closely the storyline mirrored Jane Austen. I knew, of course, that was the intent. I have no problem with the usage of similar plots but this felt so incredibly similar to Pride and Prejudice it made it dull. I knew immediately who the end man would be. Maybe it’s because I have read all of Austen’s completed works and I know them a bit more than the average reader, but I wasn’t able to feel any element of surprise. With this, I found the main character, Jane, to be unbelievable. Why was she so vain, really? “Plain” is not a unique problem to have, or a big one. You would think the rest of the world were supermodels by how worried she is about the length of her nose. It just seemed silly based on how talented she was. If she had a cleft lip or something, then I would have understood, but I felt it was a stretch. It simply didn’t make sense that she was passed up for as long as she was with her only downfall, literally, the only one, being “plainness”.

Still, I think this novel has some positive parts. I did get through it quite quickly and, unlike Austen, it was pleasantly easy to read. It still has the elements of old language but has the satisfying tendency to have direct conversation and events, rather than implications. The idea of glamour was interesting and her characters are well developed. I think historical fiction fans can really like it but I hesitate to recommend to die-hard Austen fans such as myself.

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Debut Book Review: Time Off For Good Behavior – 4/5 stars

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Ashley Lauren

Time Off for Good Behavior by Lani Diane Rich

timeoff

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wanda. What a protagonist. She’s spicy, saucy, and damn if she doesn’t keep hold of your interest. I feel so pleasantly rewarded with this book. This is Lani Diane Rich’s first novel and it sizzles. I picked it up for two reasons: one, I’m trying to get some more traditional “chick lit” under my belt, and two, it’s a NaNoWriMo novel, and I have a special place in my heart for those. I didn’t even need to keep that special place open, though, the character Wanda stole it all on her own.

Wanda’s luck goes from bad to worse and, I have to say, a lot of it is her own damn fault. She’s the kind of character who draws you in right away. The plot keeps you going. I was definitely drawn in by one after another event and with Wanda staying strong, wisecracks flying, it wasn’t hard to keep the pages turning.

This book, for me, was an up and over winner. I love Wanda and her sassiness. Towards the end of the book, though, as much as I loved Wanda, I felt my appreciation for the book start to wane. Wanda is a great character for the reader because she is a pain in the butt. She perpetuates problems, she’s eccentric and erratic. The problem is that I loved her –and so did the rest of the characters in the book. For such a catty attitude, there were far too many people who enjoyed her company, who fell over themselves to help her out. It just didn’t quite fit. For as screwed up as her life was, she had so many people who were willing to take her in. To me, the answers were just a little too easy and, at times, super cliché.

Still, there was enough about this books and the characters that I loved to keep the rating up. It’s a story that made me laugh, snort-laugh (which is more on the evil side), and feel downright tender. And feels are good.

Pick it up!

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